Systems and methods for managing financial transaction information

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods provide improved control and sharing of financial account and financial transaction information from a plurality of disparate banks to a plurality of disparate customers using a plurality of disparate financial services apps on a plurality of disparate devices. A centralized hub is used to provide communication between disparate bank and customer systems and devices, and a hub provider ensures that disparate financial services apps comply with applicable requirements before being allowed to participate in the information sharing system. The systems and methods provide new mechanisms to share data and new sources by which to monetize and incentivize the sharing of data.

CROSS-REFERENCED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority from United StatesProvisional Patent Application No. 62/345,584 which was filed on Jun. 3,2016.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to financial management systems, and moreparticularly to systems and methods for managing and using financialtransaction information in controlled and permissioned ways.

2. Background and Related Art

Banks and bank-like institutions (e.g. credit unions, savings and loans,etc., all collectively referred to herein as “bank” or “banks”) manageand process transactions on significant amounts of money from and totheir customers, including receiving deposits of funds from somecustomers, issuing loans to other customers, and providing checking,credit card, and debit card services, among other services. The banksprocess transactions on the various accounts managed by the banks, andreport on the status of their customers' accounts from time to time oron demand. While new systems and methods become available from time totime to facilitate customers' knowledge of the status of their accountsand transactions that are occurring on their accounts, current systemsand methods remain in need of refinement.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods provide improved control and sharing of financialaccount and financial transaction information from a plurality ofdisparate banks to a plurality of disparate customers using a pluralityof disparate financial services apps on a plurality of disparatedevices. A centralized hub is used to provide communication betweendisparate bank and customer systems and devices, and a hub providerensures that disparate financial services apps comply with applicablerequirements before being allowed to participate in the informationsharing system. The systems and methods provide new mechanisms to sharedata and new sources by which to monetize and incentivize the sharing ofdata.

In accordance with implementations of the invention, a system forfacilitating and controlling multi-application access to bankingtransaction data includes a hub computer system communicatively coupledto a plurality of disparate bank computer systems. The hub computersystem may include a communications mechanism to receive financialtransaction information pushed from the plurality of disparate bankcomputer systems, a processing system to parse the financial transactioninformation and to identify a customer associated with each financialtransaction within the financial transaction information, a routingsystem adapted to route information associated with each financialtransaction to a financial services app operating on a remote customerdevice, and a communications mechanism in communication with the remotecustomer device that transmits the information routed by the routingsystem to apps on appropriate customer devices.

The communications mechanism to receive financial transactioninformation may include a network interface device. Similarly, thecommunications mechanism in communication with the remote customerdevice may include a network interface device. The hub computer systemmay include a billing system that tracks financial transactioninformation sent to each customer device and generates an invoice basedon a number of transactions per device.

The hub computer system may include a referral system adapted to receivesubmission of a financial services app from a referred app developer andto track a referral source of the app developer. The referral system maybe adapted to generate instructions for providing a referral fee to thereferral source of the app developer when the financial services app isapproved for use with the hub computer system.

The hub computer system may include an authorization system adapted toreceive instructions to provide authenticated financial information to athird-party service provider from a customer and a communicationsmechanism in communication with a computer system of the third-partyservice provider.

In accordance with further implementations of the invention, a methodfor facilitating and controlling multi-application access to bankingtransaction data includes providing a hub computer system at leastintermittently communicatively connected to a plurality of disparatebank computer systems, a plurality of app provider systems, a pluralityof disparate customer computer systems and a plurality of disparatefinancial services apps operating on the plurality of disparate customercomputer systems. The method also includes receiving financial accountinformation and financial transaction information from the bank computersystems, identifying users associated with the financial accountinformation and the financial transaction information and identifyingapps used by the identified users, routing and sending the financialaccount information and the financial transaction information to thevarious apps and customer computer systems used by the identified users,and tracking the transactions sent to each app and user to facilitateper-transaction billing for information passing through the hub computersystem.

The method may also include receiving a submission of a new proposedfinancial services app for approval for use with the hub computer systemand, upon approval of the proposed financial services app for use withthe hub computer system, tracking customers who purchase and use theproposed financial services app. The method then permits routing andsending financial account and financial transaction information to thecustomers who purchase and use the proposed financial services app.

The methods discussed above may further include receiving informationrelating to a referral source for the submission of the new proposedfinancial services app and providing a referral fee to the referralsource upon approval of the proposed financial services app for use withthe hub computer system. The methods may also include ensuring that thenew proposed financial services app complies with requirements imposedupon financial services apps prior to approval of the proposed financialservices app for use with the hub computer system.

The methods may further include calculating a payment to each bank basedon a volume of financial transaction information sent from the bankcomputer systems associated with each bank.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention will become more fullyapparent from the following description and appended claims, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that thesedrawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are,therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the inventionwill be described and explained with additional specificity and detailthrough the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary computer system for use with embodiments ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary networked computer system for use withembodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 3 shows an example of communications connections with a hubaccording to embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A description of embodiments of the present invention will now be givenwith reference to the Figures. It is expected that the present inventionmay take many other forms and shapes, hence the following disclosure isintended to be illustrative and not limiting, and the scope of theinvention should be determined by reference to the appended claims.

In the description and in the claims, the terms “bank,” “banking,” andthe like should be understood to refer not only strictly to banks butalso to any bank-like institution (e.g. credit unions, savings andloans, other financial institutions, etc.) that manages customers' moneyand provides bank-like services such as savings and savings-likevehicles, checking and money market services, debit card services,credit card services, and the like.

Systems and methods provide improved control and sharing of financialaccount and financial transaction information from a plurality ofdisparate banks to a plurality of disparate customers using a pluralityof disparate financial services apps on a plurality of disparatedevices. A centralized hub is used to provide communication betweendisparate bank and customer systems and devices, and a hub providerensures that disparate financial services apps comply with applicablerequirements before being allowed to participate in the informationsharing system. The systems and methods provide new mechanisms to sharedata and new sources by which to monetize and incentivize the sharing ofdata.

In accordance with embodiments of the invention, a system forfacilitating and controlling multi-application access to bankingtransaction data includes a hub computer system communicatively coupledto a plurality of disparate bank computer systems. The hub computersystem may include a communications mechanism to receive financialtransaction information pushed from the plurality of disparate bankcomputer systems, a processing system to parse the financial transactioninformation and to identify a customer associated with each financialtransaction within the financial transaction information, a routingsystem adapted to route information associated with each financialtransaction to a financial services app operating on a remote customerdevice, and a communications mechanism in communication with the remotecustomer device that transmits the information routed by the routingsystem to apps on appropriate customer devices.

The communications mechanism to receive financial transactioninformation may include a network interface device. Similarly, thecommunications mechanism in communication with the remote customerdevice may include a network interface device. The hub computer systemmay include a billing system that tracks financial transactioninformation sent to each customer device and generates an invoice basedon a number of transactions per device.

The hub computer system may include a referral system adapted to receivesubmission of a financial services app from a referred app developer andto track a referral source of the app developer. The referral system maybe adapted to generate instructions for providing a referral fee to thereferral source of the app developer when the financial services app isapproved for use with the hub computer system.

The hub computer system may include an authorization system adapted toreceive instructions to provide authenticated financial information to athird-party service provider from a customer and a communicationsmechanism in communication with a computer system of the third-partyservice provider.

In accordance with further embodiments of the invention, a method forfacilitating and controlling multi-application access to bankingtransaction data includes providing a hub computer system at leastintermittently communicatively connected to a plurality of disparatebank computer systems, a plurality of app provider systems, a pluralityof disparate customer computer systems and a plurality of disparatefinancial services apps operating on the plurality of disparate customercomputer systems. The method also includes receiving financial accountinformation and financial transaction information from the bank computersystems, identifying users associated with the financial accountinformation and the financial transaction information and identifyingapps used by the identified users, routing and sending the financialaccount information and the financial transaction information to thevarious apps and customer computer systems used by the identified users,and tracking the transactions sent to each app and user to facilitateper-transaction billing for information passing through the hub computersystem.

The method may also include receiving a submission of a new proposedfinancial services app for approval for use with the hub computer systemand, upon approval of the proposed financial services app for use withthe hub computer system, tracking customers who purchase and use theproposed financial services app. The method then permits routing andsending financial account and financial transaction information to thecustomers who purchase and use the proposed financial services app.

The methods discussed above may further include receiving informationrelating to a referral source for the submission of the new proposedfinancial services app and providing a referral fee to the referralsource upon approval of the proposed financial services app for use withthe hub computer system. The methods may also include ensuring that thenew proposed financial services app complies with requirements imposedupon financial services apps prior to approval of the proposed financialservices app for use with the hub computer system.

The methods may further include calculating a payment to each bank basedon a volume of financial transaction information sent from the bankcomputer systems associated with each bank.

There are significant hurdles that banks and other bank-likeinstitutions face as they seek to provide their customers the desiredcustomer experience. In light of recent changes in laws and regulations(e.g., Dodd-Frank and its accompanying regulations) and changes incustomer expectations, customers are coming more and more to regardtheir banking information as their data. In contrast, banks wish toexercise control over their customers' data, and want to receivecompensation for making that data available. Additionally, customers arebecoming ever-more sophisticated in the ways in which they want toconsume and access their banking data. Consumers have progressed fromviewing and reconciling monthly statements, to accessing their accountinformation online through their banks' websites and a home computer orlaptop, to accessing such information using mobile devices, banks' ownmobile apps, and third-party programs and apps, including those providedby aggregators. While banks are going to increasing lengths to providetheir customers with in-house apps that allow customers to access theirdata and while banks further wish to maintain a consistent look and feelof their websites and mobile apps, the banks are typically unable toprovide the quality of user experience and functionality that iscommonly being provided by the financial technology industry.

The proliferation of third-party apps and programs has createdadditional difficulties for financial institutions. Banks and otherfinancial institutions are ill-equipped to properly vet more than a fewsuch applications to ensure that they are compatible with the banks' andcustomers' data and that the applications provide adequate security andauthentication to protect their customers' data. Instead, the banks musteither accept providing data to untrusted apps or risk upsetting theircustomers (and losing them to other banks) by refusing to supportuntrusted apps.

Embodiments of the invention address the needs of banks and of thebanks' customers by providing a qualification and onboarding service tobanks, allowing banks to leverage the abilities and features provided byapps developed by the financial technology industry without requiringthe banks to closely review new apps and monitor existing apps. Theservice is provided through a hub that serves to qualify apps and thatalso serves to pass data from the banks to any qualified apps. The hubalso provides a benefit of providing a central service through whichbanks can push data changes as they occur, avoiding the need to respondto requests for data pulls as with current aggregator systems.

Utilizing an app hub model also provides new mechanisms by which thebanks can control their data and monetize access to that data. In atraditional model by which the banks vet and approve each appseparately, the only way in which the banks can monetize providingaccess to their data is to monitor each individual app's use of data andto bill each app for access to such data. While this model may sufficefor a situation with many users using a very few apps, this modelbecomes unwieldy as the number of apps increase, where the cost ofbilling and collecting small amounts from each app provider may fail tooffset the revenue received from the various apps, even withoutaddressing the costs of vetting and approving such apps in the firstplace.

In contrast, the hub model provides banks and the hubs with an efficientmarket that avoids such problems. Initially, the hub provides the laborof vetting and approving apps to participate in the data received fromthe various banks. The hub is then able to provide a centralpass-through role by which it receives the data from all of the memberbanks for all of the member apps and customers, and then distributes thereceived data to the various participating apps and customers. As eachbank only sends data to a single recipient (the hub), billing for thedata received becomes simple and straightforward, based simply on theamount of data passed on and/or the number of participating customersfrom that bank whose data is delivered. Meanwhile, as the hub mayreceive information from multiple banks for each onboarded app, it canaggregate the relevant cost information for all data accessed by eachapp and invoice each app provider appropriately.

The hub configuration makes possible additional or alternative revenuemodels. As each app that participates in the system represents apossible revenue stream to the hub provider, the hub provider mayprovide a bounty to banks for referrals of apps to the hub provider foronboarding. Once the app has satisfied the requirements to participatewith the hub and provides adequate revenue to the hub provider, the hubprovider may notify the referring bank and pay an appropriate one-time,limited-time, or ongoing referral fee. In this way, the bank has anadditional mechanism to participate in a subscription revenue streamthrough which the app provider participates in the system.

Similarly, the hub configuration provides the data aggregator (the hubprovider) with an alternate revenue mechanism. In the traditionalaggregator model, the aggregator typically charges a per-user per-monthfee. In the hub model, the hub provider essentially creates andmaintains the marketplace through which the banks' customer data isdelivered and is able to participate by receiving a cut of eachtransaction. This transaction-based model is facilitated by a full orpartial transition from the older “pull” model of obtaining data fromthe banks, by which the aggregator or other app provider would requestupdates from the banks from time to time, and the customers individualapps would then request updates from the aggregator or other appprovider from time to time, with most requests at each stage locating nonew transactions. In the new model, the banks actively push each newtransaction to the hub provider as the transaction occurs, and the hubprovider pushes new transactions to the appropriate apps/app providersas they are received so that updates occur in real time while usingfewer network and computing resources. With this transaction-basedsystem, charges to the various parties can be on a per-transactionbasis.

As another alternative, each participant can participate on a percentagebasis in subscription fees received from the customers using the variousapps. The app provider receives a subscription fee from each subscriberwho is a bank customer. The hub provider receives a subscription feeessentially representing some portion of the fees collected by the appprovider from each app provider having an app on the hub marketplace,either on a per-app basis, or on a per-customer basis. The banks thenreceive a subscription fee from the hub provider essentiallyrepresenting some portion of the fees collected by the hub provider fromthe app providers on whatever appropriate basis, such as a per-customerbasis, on a fixed fee basis, or on some other agreed-upon basis.

The hub-based model also ensures that banks and their customers haveultimate control over their data and how that data is accessed andshared. The hub provider provides a critical role as it onboards eachapp that joins the marketplace. The hub first ensures data is adequatelyprotected during the app approval process. During this process, the hubprovider ensures that the app to be approved complies with all relevantacceptance criteria and quality control issues. Because each appsubmitted for approval will generally be utilized by multiple customersacross multiple banks, the hub is adequately compensated for its work invetting the proposed app since revenues are to be received fromtransactions through multiple users and banks. Alternatively oradditionally, the hub provider may charge the app provider fees for theapp review and approval process, which the app provider will be willingto pay since there is only a single approval process instead of multipleprocesses for multiple banks.

During the app approval process, the hub provider can ensure that eachapp complies with relevant data security, regulatory, and othercompliance issues. In some instances, the hub provider can applydifferent requirements to each app submitted for approval depending onthe banks that the app provider wishes to certify its apps for use withand the relevant requirements imposed by or in conjunction with suchbanks. As some banks may have more stringent requirements in some areas,the hub provider can ensure compliance with such requirements when theapp provider expresses interest in compatibility with such banks. Suchrequirements may include authentication requirements, data protectionrequirements, communication requirements, look-and-feel requirements,regulatory requirements, and any other relevant requirements.

For example, certain banks may require that apps provide the ability toprovide a pass-through look and feel matching the banks' look and feelwhen customers are accessing data from those banks. In such cases, thehub provider may ensure that the apps submitted for review are capableof providing the required pass-through look and feel before approvingsuch apps. In instances where an app submitted for review will not beused with banks having such requirements, the app may be approvedwithout complying with such requirements. Similar considerations may beapplied to each app seeking approval for use with the hub marketplace.

With the hub acting as a centralized approval and control system, itbecomes straightforward to provide user and bank control over access tobank-provided customer data. If and as regulations or other requirementsapplicable to any apps change, the hub can be used to immediately cutoff access to any noncompliant apps until such time as the app providersmodify the apps to be compliant. At any time, the customer can revokeaccess granted to the customer's app or apps, and the hub is immediatelyable to cut off all further access to that customer's data regardless ofhow many banks the app was retrieving or receiving information from.Each bank can similarly revoke access previously granted to certain appsin the unlikely event that the bank becomes aware of an unresolvedproblem with that app, and the hub can then discontinue providinginformation between the bank and the revoked app, potentially withoutrevoking access between the app and other banks. In certain instances,bank-instituted revocation may occur relevant to only certain customersrather than app-wide. In certain instances, given the trend towardincreased consumer control over their own data, the hub system may onlyallow the customer to control or limit app access to the customer'sdata.

In addition to the control benefits outlined above, embodiments of thehub system provide efficiency benefits over current systems. Asdiscussed above, current systems in which the aggregator submits a pullrequest for new transactions from the banks, and the financialtechnology apps also submit pull requests from the aggregator site areinefficient. A majority of pull requests find no new transactions.Additionally, it can take significant amounts of time for transactionsthat have occurred to be reflected in consumers' systems, depending onfactors such as the timing of processing of the transactions by theinvolved banks and other institutions, timing of the pull request by theaggregator, and timing of the pull request by the users' apps or otherfinancial management software. Using the hub system improves upon theold system's inefficiencies through the use of a push system and thepublisher-hub-subscriber model provided by the hub. The banks and othertransaction publishers push new transactions to the hub as they occur,making them immediately available to the hub. Meanwhile, the hubimmediately processes and pushes new transactions that it receives tothe subscriber apps. Thus, subscribers are able to receive and view newtransactions in near real time.

Other subscribers can see similar benefits. Financial managementprograms are one major market for these improvements, but other marketsmay include markets such as online lending markets, expense managementmarkets, etc. Essentially any market in which obtaining very up-to-datefinancial transaction information may benefit from the hub system andmethods described herein. The consumer's control over his or her owndata is able to remain essentially absolute, while banks who generateand provide the data are able to be compensated accordingly. Thus, whena consumer wishes to provide data for a loan application, the consumermay provide authorization for sharing data through the hub with thelender, and the hub and the appropriate banks may receive compensationas outlined herein. Meanwhile, the hub is able to ensure that allappropriate regulations and other requirements are complied with, as thehub provider has vetted all access apps to ensure such.

As part of the system established by the hub, the banks that provideuser data can be made aware of how that data is being used. Thisinformation may be used to facilitate additional services to theconsumer, such as targeted loan offerings, fraud prevention and consumerprotection, and the like. In some embodiments, the customer may be ableto control what the banks are able to know regarding how the customer'stransaction data is being used by the customer to increase thecustomer's privacy.

As embodiments of the invention utilize computers, computer networks,and various computing resources (e.g. a variety of wireless mobiledevices such as smart phones and tablets, laptop computers, and thelike, FIG. 1 and the corresponding discussion are intended to provide ageneral description of a suitable operating environment in whichembodiments of the invention may be implemented. One skilled in the artwill appreciate that embodiments of the invention may be practiced byone or more computing devices and in a variety of system configurations,including in a networked configuration. However, while the methods andprocesses of the present invention have proven to be particularly usefulin association with a system comprising a general purpose computer,embodiments of the present invention include utilization of the methodsand processes in a variety of environments, including embedded systemswith general purpose processing units, digital/media signal processors(DSP/MSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), stand aloneelectronic devices, and other such electronic environments.

Embodiments of the present invention embrace one or morecomputer-readable media, wherein each medium may be configured toinclude or includes thereon data or computer executable instructions formanipulating data. The computer executable instructions include datastructures, objects, programs, routines, or other program modules thatmay be accessed by a processing system, such as one associated with ageneral-purpose computer capable of performing various differentfunctions or one associated with a special-purpose computer capable ofperforming a limited number of functions. Computer executableinstructions cause the processing system to perform a particularfunction or group of functions and are examples of program code meansfor implementing steps for methods disclosed herein. Furthermore, aparticular sequence of the executable instructions provides an exampleof corresponding acts that may be used to implement such steps. Examplesof computer-readable media include random-access memory (“RAM”),read-only memory (“ROM”), programmable read-only memory (“PROM”),erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), compact disk read-only memory(“CD-ROM”), or any other device or component that is capable ofproviding data or executable instructions that may be accessed by aprocessing system. While embodiments of the invention embrace the use ofall types of computer-readable media, certain embodiments as recited inthe claims may be limited to the use of tangible, non-transitorycomputer-readable media, and the phrases “tangible computer-readablemedium” and “non-transitory computer-readable medium” (or pluralvariations) used herein are intended to exclude transitory propagatingsignals per se.

With reference to FIG. 1, a representative system for implementingembodiments of the invention includes computer device 10, which may be ageneral-purpose or special-purpose computer or any of a variety ofconsumer electronic devices. For example, computer device 10 may be apersonal computer, a notebook or laptop computer, a netbook, a personaldigital assistant (“PDA”) or other hand-held device, a tablet computer,a workstation, a minicomputer, a mainframe, a supercomputer, amulti-processor system, a network computer, a processor-based consumerelectronic device, a computer device integrated into another device orvehicle, or the like.

Computer device 10 includes system bus 12, which may be configured toconnect various components thereof and enables data to be exchangedbetween two or more components. System bus 12 may include one of avariety of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, aperipheral bus, or a local bus that uses any of a variety of busarchitectures. Typical components connected by system bus 12 includeprocessing system 14 and memory 16. Other components may include one ormore mass storage device interfaces 18, input interfaces 20, outputinterfaces 22, and/or network interfaces 24, each of which will bediscussed below.

Processing system 14 includes one or more processors, such as a centralprocessor and optionally one or more other processors designed toperform a particular function or task. It is typically processing system14 that executes the instructions provided on computer-readable media,such as on memory 16, a magnetic hard disk, a removable magnetic disk, amagnetic cassette, an optical disk, or from a communication connection,which may also be viewed as a computer-readable medium.

Memory 16 includes one or more computer-readable media that may beconfigured to include or includes thereon data or instructions formanipulating data, and may be accessed by processing system 14 throughsystem bus 12. Memory 16 may include, for example, ROM 28, used topermanently store information, and/or RAM 30, used to temporarily storeinformation. ROM 28 may include a basic input/output system (“BIOS”)having one or more routines that are used to establish communication,such as during start-up of computer device 10. RAM 30 may include one ormore program modules, such as one or more operating systems, applicationprograms, and/or program data.

One or more mass storage device interfaces 18 may be used to connect oneor more mass storage devices 26 to system bus 12. The mass storagedevices 26 may be incorporated into or may be peripheral to computerdevice 10 and allow computer device 10 to retain large amounts of data.Optionally, one or more of the mass storage devices 26 may be removablefrom computer device 10. Examples of mass storage devices include harddisk drives, magnetic disk drives, tape drives and optical disk drives.A mass storage device 26 may read from and/or write to a magnetic harddisk, a removable magnetic disk, a magnetic cassette, an optical disk,or another computer-readable medium. Mass storage devices 26 and theircorresponding computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage ofdata and/or executable instructions that may include one or more programmodules such as an operating system, one or more application programs,other program modules, or program data. Such executable instructions areexamples of program code means for implementing steps for methodsdisclosed herein.

One or more input interfaces 20 may be employed to enable a user toenter data and/or instructions to computer device 10 through one or morecorresponding input devices 32. Examples of such input devices include akeyboard and alternate input devices, such as a mouse, trackball, lightpen, stylus, or other pointing device, a microphone, a joystick, a gamepad, a satellite dish, a scanner, a camcorder, a digital camera, and thelike. Similarly, examples of input interfaces 20 that may be used toconnect the input devices 32 to the system bus 12 include a serial port,a parallel port, a game port, a universal serial bus (“USB”), anintegrated circuit, a firewire (IEEE 1394), or another interface. Forexample, in some embodiments input interface 20 includes an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC) that is designed for a particularapplication. In a further embodiment, the ASIC is embedded and connectsexisting circuit building blocks.

One or more output interfaces 22 may be employed to connect one or morecorresponding output devices 34 to system bus 12. Examples of outputdevices include a monitor or display screen, a speaker, a printer, amulti-functional peripheral, and the like. A particular output device 34may be integrated with or peripheral to computer device 10. Examples ofoutput interfaces include a video adapter, an audio adapter, a parallelport, and the like.

One or more network interfaces 24 enable computer device 10 to exchangeinformation with one or more other local or remote computer devices,illustrated as computer devices 36, via a network 38 that may includehardwired and/or wireless links. Examples of network interfaces includea network adapter for connection to a local area network (“LAN”) or amodem, wireless link, or other adapter for connection to a wide areanetwork (“WAN”), such as the Internet. The network interface 24 may beincorporated with or peripheral to computer device 10. In a networkedsystem, accessible program modules or portions thereof may be stored ina remote memory storage device. Furthermore, in a networked systemcomputer device 10 may participate in a distributed computingenvironment, where functions or tasks are performed by a plurality ofnetworked computer devices.

Thus, while those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments ofthe present invention may be practiced in a variety of differentenvironments with many types of system configurations, FIG. 2 provides arepresentative networked system configuration that may be used inassociation with embodiments of the present invention. Therepresentative system of FIG. 2 includes a computer device, illustratedas client 40, which is connected to one or more other computer devices(illustrated as client 42 and client 44) and one or more peripheraldevices (illustrated as multifunctional peripheral (MFP) MFP 46) acrossnetwork 38. While FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment that includes aclient 40, two additional clients, client 42 and client 44, oneperipheral device, MFP 46, and optionally a server 48, which may be aprint server, connected to network 38, alternative embodiments includemore or fewer clients, more than one peripheral device, no peripheraldevices, no server 48, and/or more than one server 48 connected tonetwork 38. Other embodiments of the present invention include local,networked, or peer-to-peer environments where one or more computerdevices may be connected to one or more local or remote peripheraldevices. Moreover, embodiments in accordance with the present inventionalso embrace a single electronic consumer device, wireless networkedenvironments, and/or wide area networked environments, such as theInternet.

Similarly, embodiments of the invention embrace cloud-basedarchitectures where one or more computer functions are performed byremote computer systems and devices at the request of a local computerdevice. Thus, returning to FIG. 2, the client 40 may be a computerdevice having a limited set of hardware and/or software resources.Because the client 40 is connected to the network 38, it may be able toaccess hardware and/or software resources provided across the network 38by other computer devices and resources, such as client 42, client 44,server 48, or any other resources. The client 40 may access theseresources through an access program, such as a web browser, and theresults of any computer functions or resources may be delivered throughthe access program to the user of the client 40. In such configurations,the client 40 may be any type of computer device or electronic devicediscussed above or known to the world of cloud computing, includingtraditional desktop and laptop computers, smart phones and other smartdevices, tablet computers, or any other device able to provide access toremote computing resources through an access program such as a browser.

FIG. 3 illustrates a representative schematic showing the relationshipsbetween banks, a hub provider, app providers, and customers inaccordance with embodiments of the invention. A hub provider provides ahub 50. The hub 50 is communicatively connected to one or more networks38, such as the Internet, such that the hub 50 can communicate withbanks, app providers, and/or customers of the app providers. In theillustrated example, the hub 50 is in communication with three banks,Bank A 52, Bank B 54, and Bank C 56. All of these banks are able to pushtransaction information to the hub 50 as the transactions occur.Alternatively, the hub 50 may be configured to pull transactions fromtime to time, such as after a period when communication from one of thebanks has been lost.

Each of the banks may have an agreement with the hub provider wherebythe hub provider provides app vetting services to the banks and receivesthe transaction information from the banks. The various agreements mayinclude providing compensation to the banks for the transactioninformation received from the banks, and the agreements may also includeprovisions for providing referral fees to the banks for referrals of appproviders received from the banks. In this way, the hub provider beginsto establish an app marketplace centered on the hub 50 serving as agatekeeper for the apps and as distribution point for the banks'transaction information. Notably, the banks only need communicatetransaction information to a single hub 50 and do not need tocommunicate individually with each individual app or consumer. The hub50 handles all such communication.

Various third party app providers wish to provide financial technologyapps (e.g., financial management apps) to consumers where the apps areable to receive (via pull or push) financial transaction informationfrom one or more of the banks, and wish to maximize the banks with whichtheir apps will function. These app providers may become aware of thehub provider in any fashion, either directly or via referral. Where theapp providers become aware of the hub provider via a referral from abank affiliated with the hub provider, the hub provider may provide areferral fee (either flat fee or some sort of commission on receipts) tothe referring bank once the app provider has submitted an app that hasbeen approved for use on the hub system.

The hub provider serves as a gatekeeper, ensuring that all appssubmitted to the hub 50 for review satisfy the various requirementsimposed by law, regulation, and the applicable banks for obtainingaccess to the financial transaction data. The requirements may include,for example, look-and-feel requirements, authentication requirements,privacy requirements, stability and functionality requirements, securityrequirements, or any other type of requirement. The hub provider isincentivized to work with the app provider to ensure that the app iseventually approved for use in the financial transaction marketplace,and will work with the app provider to make sure that any deficienciesof the proposed apps are addressed. In this way, the hub provider isable to realize an immediate (through fees charged to the app provider)and/or eventual (through transaction- or user-based fees) revenue streamfrom the app providers' customers' use of the approved apps.

In a traditional relationship between banks and app providers, each bankwould contract individually with each app provider, and the bank wouldperform whatever due diligence was necessary to ensure that the proposedapp functioned appropriately with the bank's systems and that the appapplied with all necessary requirements. Such a system generally limitsthe number of apps that can function with each bank, as banks areunwilling to invest the time and resources necessary to review allpossible apps. In contrast, the hub system illustrated in FIG. 3 allowsessentially limitless numbers of banks to interact appropriately withessentially limitless numbers of app providers and their apps, as thehub provider performs the review and approval functions. Thus, whileFIG. 3 illustrates an example with three banks and with two appproviders, App Provider 58 and App Provider 60, it should be understoodthat this figure is only representative, and that the number of bankscould be any number, including in the thousands, and the number of appproviders could be any number, also including in the thousands. All arerelated through the unifying hub 50 provided by the hub provider.

The banks each have their own proprietary computer systems that maintaintheir own account and transaction information. The hub 50 may include avariety of computer equipment, such as servers, programs, hardware,firmware, and software, each providing functionality as discussedherein.

Once apps are approved for use by the hub provider 50, the app providersbegin selling their apps to customers of the various banks. FIG. 3illustrates customers as Customer A 62, Customer B 64, and Customer C66. The various apps may have a variety of functionalities and somecustomers may wish to have multiple apps through which to access andunderstand their financial account and transaction data. As customerspurchase the various apps, the apps connect through the hub 50 (e.g.,intermittently when a communications connection is available to theapplicable device) to receive financial account and transaction data viapush (as transactions occur) from the hub 50 or via pull (e.g., when thedevice on which the app is installed has been without a communicationsconnection for some time and executes a pull request uponreestablishment of a communications connection.

As discussed previously, systems and methods in accordance with the hubmodel of controlling financial transaction and account informationfacilitates customer-controlled sharing of their financial data. Forexample, the hub 50 may also be in communicative connection with one ormore service providers such as lenders, stores, or other serviceproviders, illustrated as Service Provider 70 and Service Provider 72.These service providers may have need to obtain financial information ofone of the customers, such as in conjunction with a loan or purchase,signing up for a service, etc. The customer may wish to authorizesharing of certain financial data with the service provider. When thecustomer does so, the financial data may be shared through the hub 50,whereby the service provider can be assured that the shared financialdata is authenticated and up-to-date. Such sharing of data is able tooccur always and only with the permission of the customer whose data itis.

The foregoing examples illustrate how the functionality of the hub 50centralizes communications across various institutions while simplifyingthe manners in which banks are able to provide and ensure secure accessto their customers' data without requiring each bank to engage in thedifficult process of vetting every possible consumer financial app.Additionally, banks will not be required to offer or update their ownapps to provide the newest and best technology offered by the financialtechnology industry. Instead, the hub system described herein allowsbanks and their customers to obtain the benefits of the best appswithout significant outlay by the banks, allowing the banks to focus onproviding the best banking services while the app providers can focus onproviding the best and most functional apps. Essentially, throughembodiments of the invention, all parties benefit.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for facilitating and controllingmulti-application access to banking transaction information, comprising:a plurality of disparate member banks wherein each disparate member bankcomprises a disparate member bank computer system hosting customerfinancial transaction information and configured to push the financialtransaction information in real-time to a hub; a plurality of disparatemember financial services apps provided by a plurality of app providersunaffiliated with the member banks, the plurality of disparate memberfinancial services apps being configured for use by a plurality ofcustomers to control his or her personal financial transactioninformation; a hub computer system comprising a server communicativelycoupled to the plurality of disparate member bank computer systems andthe plurality of disparate member financial services apps wherein thehub computer system is configured to process communications between theplurality of member banks and the plurality of disparate memberfinancial services apps to ensure the financial transaction informationis passed between each member bank and each disparate member financialservices app only when each disparate member financial services appcomplies with prerequisites selectively set by the member bank hostingthe customer financial transaction information, the hub computer systemcomprising: a communications mechanism to receive the financialtransaction information pushed from the plurality of disparate memberbank computer systems to the hub computer system; a processing systemwherein the financial transaction information is parsed and the customerassociated with each financial transaction is identified within thefinancial transaction information; a routing system wherein the routingsystem is adapted to route the information associated with eachfinancial transaction to the identified customer through one of thedisparate member financial services apps operating on a remote customerdevice; and a communications mechanism in communication with the remotecustomer device that transmits the information routed by the routingsystem to one of the disparate member financial services apps on theremote customer device of the identified customer; wherein the hub isconfigured to vet each disparate member financial services app forcompliance in handling the financial transaction information so that thefinancial transaction information is only routed and communicated afterthe hub computer system has verified at least one time that eachdisparate member financial services app complies with the prerequisitesset by the member bank hosting the financial transaction information,the steps for verifying compliance comprising: ensuring the disparatemember financial services app complies with selectively and uniquelypre-determined acceptance criteria and quality control standards set byeach member bank; ensuring the disparate member financial services appcomplies with selectively and uniquely pre-determined informationsecurity, regulatory and compliance standards predetermined by eachrespective member bank; and ensuring the disparate member financialservices app complies with pre-determined authentication requirements,information protection requirements, and communication requirements;wherein each bank only sends data to the hub, each bank billing for thedata received based on the amount of data from that bank whose data isdelivered; wherein the hub is adapted to receive information frommultiple banks of the plurality of disparate member banks for eachdisparate member financial services app that becomes a disparate memberfinancial services app; and wherein the hub is further configured totrack the amount of financial transaction information passed between themember banks and each disparate member financial services app andallocate a cost for all data accessed by each disparate member financialservices app and invoice each app provider of the plurality of appproviders.
 2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein thecommunications mechanism to receive financial transaction informationcomprises a network interface device.
 3. The system as recited in claim1, wherein the communications mechanism in communication with the remotecustomer device comprises a network interface device.
 4. The system asrecited in claim 1, wherein the hub computer system comprises a billingsystem; wherein the billing system tracks financial transactioninformation sent to each customer device and generates an invoice basedon a number of transactions per device.
 5. The system as recited inclaim 1, wherein the hub computer system comprises a referral systemadapted to receive submission of one of the disparate member financialservices apps from a referred app developer and to track a referralsource of the app developer.
 6. The system as recited in claim 5,wherein the referral system is adapted to generate instructions forproviding a referral fee to the referral source of the app developerwhen the disparate member financial services app provided by the appdeveloper is approved for use with the hub computer system.
 7. Thesystem as recited in claim 1, wherein the hub computer system furthercomprises: an authorization system, wherein the authorization system isadapted to receive instructions to provide authenticated financialtransaction information to a third-party service provider from acustomer; and a communications mechanism in communication with athird-party computer system of the third-party service provider.
 8. Amethod for facilitating and controlling multi-application access tobanking transaction data, comprising: providing a hub computer systemcomprising a server at least intermittently communicatively connected toa plurality of disparate member bank computer systems maintained bydisparate banks and hosting customer financial information whichdisparate member bank computer systems push information from thedisparate member bank computer systems to the hub computer system inreal time, a plurality of app provider systems maintained by appproviders, a plurality of disparate customer computer systems and aplurality of disparate member financial services apps operating on theplurality of disparate customer computer systems which plurality ofdisparate member financial services apps are used by customers to accessthe customer financial information hosted on the disparate member bankcomputer systems wherein the hub computer system is configured to parseand route each of the plurality of the disparate customer financialinformation maintained by the disparate banks from the banks hosting thecustomer financial information and pushed to the hub computer system bythe disparate member bank computer systems on to the plurality ofdisparate financial services apps on the customer computer systemswherein the hub computer system calculates a fee for the providedrouting service; wherein the hub computer system provides vetting andapproving the plurality of disparate member financial services apps toparticipate in data received from the disparate banks, the steps ofvetting and approving comprising; ensuring each disparate memberfinancial services app complies with pre-determined acceptance criteriaand quality control standards set by each bank; ensuring each disparatemember financial services app complies with pre-determined informationsecurity, regulatory and compliance standards predetermined by eachrespective bank; and ensuring each disparate member financial servicesapp complies with pre-determined authentication requirements,information protection requirements, and communication requirements;distributing the received data to the plurality of disparate memberfinancial services apps and disparate customer computer systems; whereineach bank only sends data to the hub computer system; billing for thedata received from the disparate banks based on the amount of datarouted from each bank hosting the data that is delivered to thedisparate member financial services apps, the steps of billingcomprising: receiving information from multiple banks of the pluralityof disparate banks for each disparate member financial services app;aggregating the relevant cost information for all data accessed by eachdisparate member financial services app and invoicing each app providerproviding the plurality of disparate member financial services apps;receiving financial account information and financial transactioninformation from the disparate member bank computer systems; identifyingusers associated with the financial account information and thefinancial transaction information and identifying from among theplurality of disparate member financial services apps which financialservices app is being used by the identified users; routing and sendingthe financial account information and the financial transactioninformation to the plurality of disparate member financial services appsand plurality of disparate customers computer systems used by theidentified users; and tracking the transactions sent to each disparatemember financial services app and user to facilitate per-transactionbilling for information passing through the hub computer system.
 9. Themethod as recited in claim 8, further comprising: receiving a submissionof a new proposed disparate member financial services app for approvalfor use with the hub computer system; and upon approval of the proposeddisparate member financial services app for use with the hub computersystem, tracking customers who purchase and use the proposed disparatemember financial services app; and routing and sending financial accountand financial transaction information to the customers who purchase anduse the proposed disparate member financial services app.
 10. The methodas recited in claim 9, further comprising receiving information relatingto a referral source for the submission of the new proposed disparatemember financial services app and providing a referral fee to thereferral source upon approval of the proposed disparate member financialservices app for use with the hub computer system.
 11. The method asrecited in claim 9, further comprising ensuring that the new proposeddisparate member financial services app complies with requirementsimposed upon the plurality of disparate member financial services appsprior to approval of the proposed disparate member financial servicesapp for use with the hub computer system.
 12. The method as recited inclaim 8, further comprising calculating a payment to each bank based ona volume of financial transaction information sent from the disparatemember bank computer systems associated with each bank.
 13. A system forfacilitating and controlling multi-application access to bankingtransaction information, comprising: a plurality of disparate bankswherein each bank comprises a bank computer system hosting customerpersonal financial information; a plurality of disparate financialservices apps unaffiliated with the banks and used by a plurality ofdisparate customers wherein each disparate financial services app isused by a customer to control the personal financial information of thatcustomer; a hub computer system comprising a server communicativelycoupled to a portion of the plurality of disparate bank computer systemscomprising member bank computer systems and to a portion of theplurality of disparate member financial services apps comprising memberfinancial services apps wherein the hub computer system is configured toprocess communications between the plurality of member bank computersystems and the plurality of disparate member financial services apps toensure the customer financial information is passed between each memberbank computer system and each disparate member financial services apponly when each disparate member financial services app complies withprerequisites selectively set by the bank hosting the customer financialinformation, the hub computer system comprising: a communicationsmechanism configured to pass financial transaction information betweenthe plurality of member bank computer systems and the plurality ofdisparate member financial services apps; a processing system whereinthe financial transaction information is parsed and the customerassociated with each financial transaction is identified within thefinancial transaction information; a routing system wherein the routingsystem is adapted to route information associated with each financialtransaction to the identified customer through the disparate memberfinancial services app operating on a remote customer device; and acommunications mechanism in communication with the remote customerdevice that transmits the information routed by the routing system tothe disparate member financial services app on the remote customerdevices of the identified customer; wherein the financial transactioninformation is only routed and communicated after the hub computersystem has verified at least one time that the disparate memberfinancial services app complies with the prerequisites set by the bankhosting the financial information, the steps for verifying compliancecomprising: ensuring the disparate member financial services appcomplies with pre-determined acceptance criteria and quality controlstandards set by each bank; ensuring the disparate member financialservices app complies with pre-determined information security,regulatory and compliance standards predetermined by each respectivebank; and ensuring the disparate member financial services app complieswith pre-determined authentication requirements, information protectionrequirements, and communication requirements; wherein each bank onlysends data to the hub computer system, each bank billing for the datareceived based on the amount of data from that bank whose data isdelivered; wherein the hub computer system is adapted to receiveinformation from multiple banks of the plurality of disparate banks foreach financial services app that becomes a disparate member financialservices app; and wherein the hub computer system is further configuredto track the amount of financial information passed between the memberbank computer systems and the disparate member financial services appsand to allocate a cost for all data accessed by each member financialservices app and invoice each app provider providing such disparatemember financial services app.